Tune In Tonight: Classic Radio Comedy Stars

About Tune In Tonight: Classic Radio Comedy Stars

Tune In Tonight: Classic Radio Comedy Stars is a free nostalgia trivia quiz with 15 multiple-choice questions aimed at mixed difficulty. Before television arrived, the family gathered around the radio to laugh with Jack Benny, Burns and Allen, and Fibber McGee — and these legendary comedians were as beloved as any star on any screen. A typical run takes about 7 minutes, hints are always one tap away, and your streak ticks up the first time you finish a game on a given day.

A few sample questions

1. 1. Jack Benny had a famous running gag on his radio program — he always claimed to be the same age, no matter how many years went by. What age did he insist he was?

   Answer: 39

   Jack Benny's running joke that he was eternally 39 years old was one of the most beloved gags in radio comedy — he kept that fictional age for decades while audiences laughed along.

2. 2. Which actor played Jack Benny's sharp-witted valet Rochester on The Jack Benny Program?

   Answer: Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson

   Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson brought the valet Rochester to life with a gravelly voice and perfect comic timing, and he became one of the most popular supporting characters in all of radio.

3. 3. Fibber McGee and Molly had one running gag that audiences looked forward to every single episode. What happened whenever Fibber opened the hall closet?

   Answer: Everything came crashing down in a tremendous clatter

   The overstuffed hall closet crash was the show's most famous gag — every time Fibber opened that door, an avalanche of household junk would clatter and clang for a full half-minute, delighting audiences every time.

4. 4. Edgar Bergen was a ventriloquist who became a radio superstar — which was a delightfully funny idea, since no one could see the dummy's mouth not moving. What was the name of his most famous wooden dummy?

   Answer: Charlie McCarthy

   Charlie McCarthy was Bergen's tuxedo-wearing, monocle-sporting dummy, famous for his witty and sometimes cheeky remarks to the celebrity guests who appeared on the program.

5. 5. George Burns and Gracie Allen were one of radio's most beloved comedy teams. What role did George Burns typically play in their act?

   Answer: The calm, logical straight man

   George Burns was the master straight man — asking simple, sensible questions that set up Gracie Allen's wonderfully illogical answers, which she delivered with complete sincerity.

Things you'll learn along the way

• ✓Jack Benny's battered old Maxwell — always breaking down and making dreadful noises — was one of the show's most beloved running gags, a perfect symbol of his legendary reluctance to spend money.
• ✓Senator Beauregard Claghorn, performed on radio by Kenny Delmar, is widely regarded as the inspiration for Foghorn Leghorn — the big, boastful rooster (voiced by Mel Blanc) who debuted in Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoons in 1946.
• ✓Johnson's Wax sponsored 'Fibber McGee and Molly' for many years, and the product tie-ins were written so naturally into each episode that audiences barely noticed they were hearing an advertisement.